ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Prime gap

Okay, let me explain a bit about prime gaps. Imagine you have a bunch of numbers lined up, like 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and so on. Some of these numbers are special because they can only be divided evenly by 1 and themselves. We call these numbers primes, and they are super important in math!

Now, let's say we look at the difference between two consecutive primes. For example, the difference between 2 and 3 is 1, the difference between 3 and 5 is 2, and so on. Sometimes, there can be a big space or gap between two consecutive primes, like between 11 and 13 there are no other prime numbers (12 isn’t prime!). This gap is called a prime gap.

Scientists have tried to study prime gaps to see if there is any pattern or rule to them. It turns out that prime gaps can get really big, but they don't keep getting bigger and bigger forever. There are limits to how big prime gaps can get, but predicting exactly how big they can get is still a big challenge in math!
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